2016—Pupils In The Sunlight

The Burrowing Owl I featured in yesterday’s post was side lit. After a few minutes of shooting, Jim pulled forward and turned the car around, putting the sun directly behind us. As the owl kept its eyes on me, I noticed that the pupil size and shape seemed to change as it faced the sun. In the bright sunlight, the pupils seemed almost star shaped (top photo), returning to round when it tipped its head slightly (bottom photo). The light on the bird completely changed from that viewpoint and even the colors of the background warmed a little. But the feet don’t show and the bird seems flatter and doesn’t have as much depth as in yesterday’s side lit photograph. What I learned from Jim and Shirley is that the owls are predictably at that location and I know where they are now so I can return and try again.